A brief detour to consider something that has begun to grate more and more-Premature Christmas. Last weekend, as I wore shorts and a t-shirt around town, the City of Austin put out its downtown Christmas, excuse me, “Holiday” decorations and has already begun installing the Zilker Park Trail of Lights. The Christmas tree/Moon Tower has already gone up. I’ve now seen at least two Christmas tree lots begin to spring up. Highland Mall (a/k/a the flea market with Dillard’s) has had decorations since early October.
What’s the hurry?
Christmas still does have something to do with the birth of Christ and the Christian calendar, right? So there ought to be at least some similarity between the modern Christmas season and how it was practiced before malls began to blight the land. Originally, Christmas began with Advent, which is the four weeks before Christmas waiting for Christmas Day and anticipating the Christmas celebration. Then was “Christmastide” or the 12 days of Christmas. Then you had the Feast of Epiphany (to celebrate the revelation of Jesus Christ’s divinity to mankind). Then Elvis' birthday on the 8th. Then Carnival season (OK, that's not really part of the "official calendar" but apparently there has to be some time set aside for public urination), and finally Lent. But now that we need to get more people to the food court, all that’s out the window.
The real problem I have with this, as you can see, is that commercial interests have basically hijacked the Christmas season. Count me in Linus' corner on this one. I know, welcome to the 21st Century, right, but still it seems like this has really gotten incredibly out of hand the last few years. To sell more singing bass and electric shoe polishers, merchants began pushing the idea that you celebrate Christmas by showing your love for family and friends with presents. Lots and lots of presents. That you have to buy at the mall. “Show her you care” by buying the biggest diamond. “Make this Christmas special” with the most possible toys.
Advent quickly was thrown out the window, as it interfered with buying presents. Then, retailers dependent on Christmas sales as part of their business model began lengthening the pre-Christmas season. They sponsored earlier TV specials, decorated their stores earlier, marketed earlier, all to make you beat the “Christmas rush” and take advantage of “early Christmas specials.” This has begun to blow out Thanksgiving, which has become more and more overshadowed with Christmas shopping and obligations. Some retailers actually are open on Thanksgiving Day now. Thanks.
A longer season has watered down the season. Remember the law of diminishing returns? I think we’ve reached that point. More Christmas days means each day of the lengthened season is less special. There’s more days that have to be filled with something. Take TV for example. At first it was just the Charlie Brown special, which is a masterpiece, and Rudolph. Both classics. Then the Grinch. Classic, but just slightly lesser in quality. Then every washed up crooner had to have a special-everyone from Bing Crosby to Dolly Parton. Interminable showings of It’s a Wonderful Life. Finally, we reached what hopefully is rock bottom with the Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer special. What surer sign of the Apocolypse can there possibly be? TV is just an example. Everywhere more and more events proliferate to fill the expanded season.
This commercial hijacking of Christmas has created the pernicious Holiday Season, not Christmas. Retailers looking for greater markets have pushed the idea that non-Christians should celebrate too (and exchange presents while they’re at it). I can’t figure out exactly whether Hannukah suffers from Christmas (I know lots of Jews who celebrate Christmas), or benefits from it (Jews making more of a point to celebrate Hannukah to carve out their place from the Christmas monster). Companies send out politically correct “Holiday cards.” People wish each other “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings.” The point is to buy presents, not celebrate. Pretty soon, there’s just going to be one “Holiday,” kind of like how there’s just one President’s Day, not Washington’s or Lincoln’s birthday. Whose lap will your kids sit in for Holiday? Maybe we can have Holiday carols, like "Holiday" by Madonna.
The point of Christmas is to celebrate the second most special event in Christianity. Generally, I’m just happy to get it over with.
What’s the hurry?
Christmas still does have something to do with the birth of Christ and the Christian calendar, right? So there ought to be at least some similarity between the modern Christmas season and how it was practiced before malls began to blight the land. Originally, Christmas began with Advent, which is the four weeks before Christmas waiting for Christmas Day and anticipating the Christmas celebration. Then was “Christmastide” or the 12 days of Christmas. Then you had the Feast of Epiphany (to celebrate the revelation of Jesus Christ’s divinity to mankind). Then Elvis' birthday on the 8th. Then Carnival season (OK, that's not really part of the "official calendar" but apparently there has to be some time set aside for public urination), and finally Lent. But now that we need to get more people to the food court, all that’s out the window.
The real problem I have with this, as you can see, is that commercial interests have basically hijacked the Christmas season. Count me in Linus' corner on this one. I know, welcome to the 21st Century, right, but still it seems like this has really gotten incredibly out of hand the last few years. To sell more singing bass and electric shoe polishers, merchants began pushing the idea that you celebrate Christmas by showing your love for family and friends with presents. Lots and lots of presents. That you have to buy at the mall. “Show her you care” by buying the biggest diamond. “Make this Christmas special” with the most possible toys.
Advent quickly was thrown out the window, as it interfered with buying presents. Then, retailers dependent on Christmas sales as part of their business model began lengthening the pre-Christmas season. They sponsored earlier TV specials, decorated their stores earlier, marketed earlier, all to make you beat the “Christmas rush” and take advantage of “early Christmas specials.” This has begun to blow out Thanksgiving, which has become more and more overshadowed with Christmas shopping and obligations. Some retailers actually are open on Thanksgiving Day now. Thanks.
A longer season has watered down the season. Remember the law of diminishing returns? I think we’ve reached that point. More Christmas days means each day of the lengthened season is less special. There’s more days that have to be filled with something. Take TV for example. At first it was just the Charlie Brown special, which is a masterpiece, and Rudolph. Both classics. Then the Grinch. Classic, but just slightly lesser in quality. Then every washed up crooner had to have a special-everyone from Bing Crosby to Dolly Parton. Interminable showings of It’s a Wonderful Life. Finally, we reached what hopefully is rock bottom with the Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer special. What surer sign of the Apocolypse can there possibly be? TV is just an example. Everywhere more and more events proliferate to fill the expanded season.
This commercial hijacking of Christmas has created the pernicious Holiday Season, not Christmas. Retailers looking for greater markets have pushed the idea that non-Christians should celebrate too (and exchange presents while they’re at it). I can’t figure out exactly whether Hannukah suffers from Christmas (I know lots of Jews who celebrate Christmas), or benefits from it (Jews making more of a point to celebrate Hannukah to carve out their place from the Christmas monster). Companies send out politically correct “Holiday cards.” People wish each other “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings.” The point is to buy presents, not celebrate. Pretty soon, there’s just going to be one “Holiday,” kind of like how there’s just one President’s Day, not Washington’s or Lincoln’s birthday. Whose lap will your kids sit in for Holiday? Maybe we can have Holiday carols, like "Holiday" by Madonna.
The point of Christmas is to celebrate the second most special event in Christianity. Generally, I’m just happy to get it over with.
2 comments:
While I totally agree that retailers have hijacked any meaning out of the Holiday season, I have to disagree with out about the meaning of the season.
December 25 and Winter celebrations pre-date the birth of Jesus.
The date of December 25th probably originated with the ancient "birthday" of the son-god, Mithra, a pagan deity whose religious influence became widespread in the Roman Empire during the first few centuries A.D.
Most biblical scholars agrre that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter.
The Christmas celebration was created by the early Church in order to entice pagan Romans to convert to Christianity without losing their own winter celebration.
So I guess December is as good a time as any for Christians to celebrate Jesus, but that time of year is sacred to lots of people of different religions.
And now it is sacred to Best Buy, Target, and Toys R Us!
Perhaps commercializing Ramadan might be the quickest way to end the war.
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